The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1887-04-22
Thrce Questions Answered.

/ correspondence of the five general officers
and at the Minneapolis Convention the
other four delegated to me the responsible
ity of replying through the Union SjqRdi,
which will now try to do as follows:
1.-"lFAat docs tie lrogd CAristian mean
in tie name IF Tie ". C. T. W"
1t means that the origin, auspices and
control Of the society arc Christian, not by
any specific and arbitrary action. but in
the nature of the case. 1t means that the
Bible is our chief cornerstone. and that the
Christian home, the Christian school and
the Christian church have been our nurse
ries. our training schools and onr military
camps. as soldiers of the Gross. 1t means
that We have as our supreme purpose and
desire the building up of His kingdom in
the earth whose sway means purity ana
peace and universal brotherhood. But it
does not mean a creed test. Instead Of this
it proposes a character test, viz, that those
who Join ns as honorary and working mem
bers (men coming under the first and wo-
men under the second head), shall be per-
sons willing to ally themselves with
movement having such purpose as have
described. II they choose us we believe it
will be safe for us to choose them, and ''as
a working hypothesis this plan has been
grandly successful. The door of entrance
to our societies is not a church letter, but
the pledge of total abstinence. After one
is i'll. he will find himself admitted TO
temple Of worship where the Master of As
semblies leads: listening to the music of
hymns he learned to love long years age,
and invited to earnest ministries inh home and
church and state, all based upon faith in
and obedience toward Him who went
about doing good
..-"What is tie e1act meaning Of lie u.
c. 7. Z. Pledge"'
1t includes, by explicit statement, total
abstinence from all distilled drinks, and
from every variety of 'rtaf, beer and cider.
Some pledges, by using only the general
term Intoxicating beverages, leave room
for private Interpretation in this regard;
but our form of pledge does not. While
there are several ways Of wording it leach
state and local union exercising its diScre-
ton in this respee), there is uniformity
throughout the nation in this elear-cut de
finiticn relative to the class of drinks from
which we are totally TO abstain. The form
of the National ". c. I. I. pledge ere
commended to all others, is as follows:
al,l
from all ditiIed, fermented and mat liquors,
including wine and cider, aud 10 employ all
proper means TO discourage the u~r Of and
tlftiiic in the same
But many unions insert the words las 4
beverage, while others specifically pledge
against any use of alcoholics as medicine,
or in cooking The foregoing National
pledge, adopted at Chicago in 1871, and the
most sharply defined that have ever seen,
does away with arg use Of alcoholics in
any way, at any time. This is what science
and religion will bring the world to ere
many generations pass. We are simply
holding up what We believe to be the true
standard BIT be il remembered that any
local union is at liberty to insert the words,
AS a beverage, and many do so. leaving
to each members conscience the decision
about the Use OF intoXicants as Il medicine
and in cooking. Our local tInons are, how
Fever, strongly odeised to adopt the stronger
pledge.
il diMcaIty or djetsioa has como up
in oar ranks" about finance, rival leaders,
politics, any one of a multitude of causes
that goes to prove once more "the hui
maneneSs of the saints }; "ciN you adcise
as 1ohat to do, or ir1ft6 q letter that nc can
read 10 the uaion ?"
| No, beloved. Your general officers can
serve the interests, dear alike to your hearts
and theirs, in better ways than in meddling
in local difficulties of which they cannot
get an impartial knowledge, and in which
| their Interference would but compli-
cate the situation. You know as well
as We do that "A soft answer" is the
| sovereign, because the divine method, by
which to turn away wrath. The only
method by which railway trains crn
| avoid running into each other is for each to
( give the Other the whole road. When yeur
antagonist comes against you, don't b.
| there, !. e., give all the opportunity for crit
icism and reproaches to those who desire
to offer them. Very likely they are merit
/ ed, in which case acknowledge it, and ask
| frankly for pardon. IF they are not, try to
explain, with perfect kindness. In any
event being revilod, revile not again. +"
That cold-water method is warranted to put
ont any kind of Il fire Nincty-ninc in
every hundred difficulties among good
people grow out of misunderstanding; the
angle of vision is different in each; the per-
| ception of color it less strong in some than
in others. and some are color-blnd. But
at heart they are all good people. Take
that for the lnaor premise, and the conclu-
sion will always make for peace. We are
yet long way from meeting the celestial
test: '.By this shall all men know that ye
are Ny disciples, because ye love one an
other But let us struggle.on to meet it,,
with hearts in which the central movement
is prayer 10 God aud consequent good will
toward our neighbor Dear, mystical
''neighbor so like as in selt-loye. in de-
sire to succeed, in temptation to sin, Be-
cause We are for ourselves; numbered and
clogged We are with earthly dross can we
not be sorry for him, aud show little of
that INDULGENCE tow ard him which is a